Chronic Bits 

Grand Rounds is fresh at Envisioning 2.0, with a focus on the idea of consumer-driven health care: its philosophical underpinnings, the consequences of placing increased financial burden on patients, ideas of how patients can take better control of their care and more. Very intriguing conversation, to say the least. For newbies: Grand Rounds is our fave blog carnival; catch up on its archives.

Our enewsletter, Goodie Bag, is featured today in an Email Design Gallery as an example of great html enewsletter design. (You can see the whole gallery here.) We're so proud - all hail the King of Web Design, Matt Mayes of Stop Time Studio!

For folks interested in disability-related issues, check out the Disability Blog Carnival, hosted today by Disability Studies department of Temple University, Philadelphia. Like Grand Grounds, this carnival is packed with a wide-ranging collection of perspectives. We dig it!

Once again, politicians are talking about universal health care as a real possibility for folks in the U.S. And Editrix Jenni is crushing big-time on her Senator Barack Obama, so that makes this conversation even better. Hillary Clinton is promoting it too, along with many other Dems, and while we typically shy away from politics on this site, it's hard to disagree with the notion that every single person living in the U.S. deserves to have health insurance - especially since outrageous medical costs are what put millions of people into irreversible debt every year. OK. Editrix climbing back off the soapbox now.

Change of Shift continues to offer interesting perspectives from nurses, whom many consider the frontline of care in today's overloaded medical system. Worth a read, Babes! (BTW, Change of Shift is a creation of Kim at Emergiblog, another fun read about life working in an E.R.)

National Wear Red Day is February 2, a day when people around the country wear red to remind each other that heart disease is a leading killer of women. We thought we'd give you a little advance notice so you can plan your wardrobe. Kiss kiss...

Women's Health Matters reports that a preliminary study on a new treatment using the drug Valganciclovir for chronic fatigue syndrome looks very promising. Its researchers (at Stanford University School of Medicine) have received a grant from Roche Pharmaceutical to conduct a trial with its brand of the drug: Valcyte. We'll keep tracking this research for you.

...we're one of the top 20 Chicago-based blogs by individual authors (according to SpudArt, who based it on Alexa and Google rankings). Suh-weet! (Thanks for the tip, Andrew!)

Check out this great AOL Ability story on designer wheelchairs set to debut Feb. 6 as part of New York's Fashion Week - from big names like Nicole Miller and Kimora Lee Simmons. It's all part of the Rolling With Style gala, sponsored by Discovery Through Design, a non-profit founded by four "Chairwomen" with the goal of "honoring women's lifestyles, creating awareness and raising funds for paralyzed women's health initiatives and spinal cord injury research." Awesome - now bring on the pink leopard wheelchair!

Grand Rounds is fresh at Signout: Out-of-body experiences of a first-year medical resident. And ChronicBabe is a featured contributor! Head on over for some interesting reading on the theme of the interface of scientific evidence with health and health care. And if you've got lots of time on your hands, check out the Grand Rounds archives, with literally hundreds of contributing blogs and thousands of posts to choose from.

Sponsored by Medgadget, the 2006 Medical Weblog Awards recognize some of the best in health and medical writing on the web. Check out the winners - we're happy to see Diabetes Mine, a ChronicBabe favorite, get a special mention.

Revolution Health - the creation of Steve Case (co-founder of AOL) - launched today, with a limited-time free offering of services like help finding insurance coverage, medical record storage and live phone support for questions. It's brand new, so we haven't had time to check it out fully, but we do think it's worth taking a closer look. For starters, see what Wall Street Journal has to say - they're not totally enthusiastic. ALso, The Daily Headache weighs in with the migraineur's perspective.

The Society for Women's Health Research recently announced its top five women's health stories of 2006. They include FDA approval of a cervical cancer vaccine, over-the-counter approval for an emergency contraceptive, and extensive research highlighting disparities of treatment for minorities, women and older Americans. "The public's attitude toward women's health has evolved greatly since the Society was founded in 1990," said Phyllis Greenberger, M.S.W, president and CEO of the Society. "When we began, the general consensus was that the only differences between women and men were in the reproductive system. The research now being conducted and the stories being reported verify that sex differences span the entire health spectrum."

What happens when your HMO decrees that they will cover procedures that your doctor recommends are "medically necessary," and then in the same document, the HMO explains that they may not necessarily cover so-called "medically necessary" procedures if they don't deem them, well, "necessary?" Sound bizarrely familiar? Babe Marrit decided to write her HMO back with some thoughtful insights. Recommended reading for all Babes... (Thanks to Hormone-Colored Days blog!)

Flu vaccines are typically created in chicken eggs, so folks with an egg allergy often don't get the shot. But flu season is rough, and folks with chronic issues like asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) really should try to get protection. Check out this Q&A from the National Women's Health Resource Center Flu Blog for more on the egg allergy/flu vaccine conflict, which includes alternatives so you can stay protected.

Things have been a little quiet while Editrix Jenni was in New Orleans meeting her new niece Vivi. But she's back, and we're gathering tons of new content for ChronicBabe.com. Thanks for your patience while we grabbed some much-needed vacation time!

Grand Rounds is fresh at Six Until Me, one of our fave diabetes blogs. Check it out! Newbies: the Grand Rounds archives are chock full of good info.

Change of Shift is fresh at Emergiblog - both great sites for health writing from a nurse's perspective. Good reading!

Recognizing the need for greater awareness and understanding of racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care, the Kaiser Family Foundation announced today the launch of a news summary report – the Kaiser Health Disparities Report: A Weekly Look at Race, Ethnicity and Health. The report is available through a free weekly email, with stories updated daily online on kaisernetwork.org, the Foundation's news and information service.

Grand Rounds is fresh at Dr John LaPuma's blog, with a focus on "food as medicine." Newbies: Grand Rounds is our fave medical/health blog. For tons of good reading, check out the archives!

Kerrie over at The Daily Headache has come up with some great resources on sex and chronic pain, from sources like the Mayo Clinic and Wired magazine. A great collection of goodies - thanks Babe Kerrie!

Try Break Reminder software, which you can program to give your hands a keyboard break at specific intervals. On a Mac? Try MacBreakZ, Time Out!, or Stress Buster. Take care of your hands!

Judging for the 2006 Medical Weblog Awards is open from now until January 14 at MedGadget. Vote now!

The National Women's Health Resource Center offers a new FREE report (in their excellent series) on women, substance abuse and addiction. This issue looks at how substance abuse affects women differently than men, and offers resources for recovery. We dig this excellent series - download National Women's Health Report: Substance Abuse, Addiction & Women now for free.

Social networking in the healthcare communities? Imagine our surprise. Blogs, chatrooms, internet discussion boards, and webrings are the new faces of healthcare. Laura Landro, the Wall Street Journal's Informed Patient, takes a look at how internet resources are helping shape disease management in Social Networking Comes to Health Care

Grand Rounds is fresh at Musings of a Distractible Mind (complete with accompanying tunes), and was fresh Dec. 26 at blogborygmi (hosted that week by Nick, its excellent creator.) If you're looking for some fun, creative, inciteful health care writing, Grand Rounds is the place. Have a lot of free time? Check out its massive archives.

The crew here at ChronicBabe HQ just hates it when someone says "it's all in your head," but this time, it looks like the experts may be on to something. WebMD reports that a new research study on back pain treatments shows psychological approaches may work better than conventional methods for easing pain in the long-term. Successful treatments include cognitive therapy, biofeedback and relaxation techniques. Read on for more...

Change of Shift, one of our favorite blog carnivals, is new today at NeoNurse Chic. It's excellent - another great collection of perspectives from the nurse's point of view. (Fair warning: this site has optional music, so be prepared to either enjoy some nice classical tunes while reading, or turn off your speakers.)

We've been taking a little break for the holidays, but we'll be back tomorrow with lots of new stuff. Happy new year! - Editrix Jenni